The Hong Kong, China Association of Athletics Affiliates
Event Background
Bank of China (Hong Kong) Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HK Section) Half Marathon 2023 is the first major sports event held on the Hong Kong Section of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB). The Hong Kong, China Association of Athletics Affiliates hopes the event will become an iconic sporting event in Hong Kong. The event will be held on 19 November 2023, and the 1st East-Asian Half Marathon Championships will also be held concurrently. The HKAAA will invite elite runners from various East-Asia countries and regions to compete with Hong Kong runners and strive for excellence.
The 55-km HZMB is the world’s longest bridge-and-tunnel sea crossing. Being the linkage of the Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macao, it becomes one of the important hubs to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area). HZMB puts major cities in the Pearl River Delta within a three hours’ commute from Hong Kong. At the same time, HZMB locates on the Lingdingyang channel in the Pearl River Estuary, providing a beautiful backdrop for this magnificent bridge.
Runners can challenge themselves and enjoy the magnificent bridge and breathtaking scenery along the way by participating in this event.
The Challenge
The prestigious Bank of China (Hong Kong) Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Half Marathon presented a live production challenge of unparalleled scale. Our mission was to deliver a seamless, broadcast-quality live stream from the heart of the world’s longest sea-crossing bridge—a location that was, for all intents and purposes, a broadcast “no-man’s land.” The primary obstacle was the complete absence of traditional fixed-line infrastructure like fiber optics or ethernet across the vast expanse of the sea. This remote environment was compounded by the intense pressure of a live event, where thousands of participants and spectators would overwhelm the limited cellular networks, creating a high-risk scenario for signal stability. Furthermore, capturing the dynamic nature of the race required multiple moving points of capture—from broadcast vehicles and camera motorcycles to on-foot operators—all of whom needed to transmit reliable feeds while traversing the bridge’s immense length. The combination of a logistically complex moving production, a signal-congested environment, and zero fixed infrastructure created a perfect storm where any interruption would break the immersion for a global audience and compromise the prestige of this landmark event.
The Solution
To triumph over these formidable challenges, LiveMakerPro architected a robust, multi-layered live streaming solution powered by advanced LiveU bonded cellular technology. Our strategy was built on redundancy, intelligence, and mobility. We equipped our key production assets, including our lead broadcast vehicle and camera motorcycles, with the flagship LiveU LU800 field transmitters, while our agile, on-foot operators utilized the compact yet powerful LiveU LU600 units. These devices formed the backbone of our solution, intelligently aggregating multiple SIM cards from all major Hong Kong cellular carriers into a single, robust “video VPN.” This multi-carrier approach was critical, as it allowed the LiveU technology to dynamically route data through the strongest available signals in real-time, overcoming severe network congestion. By leveraging a powerful blend of 5G for low-latency and high-bandwidth primary shots, and bonding it with multiple 4G LTE signals for ultimate redundancy, we created a resilient data pipe capable of delivering pristine HD video from the middle of the sea. All incoming feeds were centrally managed and monitored in real-time through the LiveU Matrix platform in our control room, enabling our directors to seamlessly switch between dynamic shots and ensure a flawless, cinematic broadcast that captured every thrilling moment of the race against its breathtaking backdrop.
